Three area football teams were accorded No. 1 seeds Saturday night in Albuquerque for the upcoming state small-school football playoffs.

Texico (9-0) and Fort Sumner (9-1) earned first-round byes in the Class 2A and 1A playoffs, respectively, while Melrose (10-0) will host eighth-seeded Springer in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal game on Friday.

Beyond the seeding, all three area teams appear to have good shots at title runs.

Texico has beaten four of the other 11 teams in the 2A playoffs — No. 4 Santa Rosa (28-14), No. 6 Estancia (41-0), No. 7 Capitan (41-0) and No. 10 Tucumcari (48-7). The Wolverines’ season opener against second-seeded Dexter was cancelled by lightning with the Demons ahead 7-0 at the quarter.

Texico will host either eighth-seeded Laguna Acoma or No. 9 Cloudcroft in a quarterfinal game Nov. 14 or 15.

First-round matchups next weekend have 12th-seeded Cuba at fifth-seeded Tularosa, No. 11 New Mexico Military at No. 6  Estancia and No. 10 Tucumcari at No. 7 Capitan.

Fort Sumner has beaten each of the other five teams in the 1A playoffs, and soundly — 35-0 over No. 2 Clayton, 54-7 over No. 3 Hagerman, 55-0 over No. 4 McCurdy, 29-0 over No. 5 Jal and 59-0 over No. 6 Carrizozo.

The Foxes, three-time defending 1A champions, get the winner of Jal and McCurdy. Clayton will play either Carrizozo or Hagerman in the other semifinal.

In 8-man, Melrose has played and beaten everybody in the eight-team bracket except Animas, which earned the No. 3 seed. The only game decided by less than 40 points was a 60-44 win over Gateway Christian at Roswell on Sept. 19.

Floyd (7-2), which finished second to Melrose in District 4, earned the No. 4 seed overall. The Broncos will host fifth-seeded Magdalena in a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday

Other first-round games send sixth-seeded Tatum to Animas and No. 7 Mountainair to second-seeded Gateway Christian.

PREP PLAYOFFS
(Seeds in parentheses)
Class 2A
First round
(9) Cloudcroft at (8) Laguna Acoma, TBA
(12) Cuba at (5) Tularosa, 1 p.m. Saturday
(11) New Mexico Military at (6) Estancia, 7 p.m. Friday
(10) Tucumcari at (7) Capitan, 7 p.m. Friday
Quarterfinals
Nov. 14-15
Cloudcroft-Laguna Acoma winner at (1) Texico
Cuba-Tularosa winner at (4) Santa Rosa
New Mexico Military-Estancia winner at (3) Lordsburg
Tucumcari-Capitan winner at (2) Dexter
Semifinals
Nov. 21-22
Cloudcroft-Laguna Acoma-Texico winner vs. Cuba-Tularosa-Santa Rosa winner
New Mexico Military-Estancia-Lordsburg winner at Tucumcari-Capitan-Dexter winner
Championship
Nov. 28-29
TBA

Class 1A
Quarterfinals
(5) Jal at (4) McCurdy, TBA
(6) Carrizozo at (3) Hagerman, 1 p.m. Saturday
Semifinals
Nov. 14-15
Jal-McCurdy winner at (1) Fort Sumner
Carrizozo-Hagerman winner at (2) Clayton
Championship
Nov. 21-22
TBA

8-man
Quarterfinals
(8) Springer at (1) Melrose, 7 p.m. Friday
(5) Magdalena at (4) Floyd, 1 p.m. Saturday
(6) Tatum at (3) Animas, TBA
(7) Mountainair at (2) Gateway Christian, TBA
Semifinals
Nov. 14-15
Springer-Melrose winner vs. Magdalena-Floyd winner
Tatum-Animas winner vs. Mountainair-Gateway Christian winner
Championship
Nov. 21-22
TBA